Tusla warns of staff shortages after €6.3m non-compliant spending

Child and family agency said it was struggling to attract procurement staff in letter showing it awarded millions in contracts without running a valid competition last year

Brendan Gloster, Tusla’s chief executive, said the ‘technical and litigious nature’ of the sector meant the agency was struggling to attract qualified staff. Picture: Alan Place

The state’s child and family agency broke public expenditure guidelines on contracts worth more than €6 million in 2020, spending €1.1 million on cleaning services alone.

New figures from Tusla show it marginally reduced its non-compliant expenditure from €7.1 million to €6.3 million last year, but the body said public spending was still a “high-risk activity” amid difficulties bringing its outlay into line with regulations.

In a letter to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Tusla ...